Funded PhD Opportunity in Respiratory Healthcare

This project will investigate socioeconomic disparities in asthma, COPD and interstitial lung disease healthcare outcomes in Northern Ireland, and assess potential disparities in asthma biologic prescription rates across the UK.

It builds on existing infrastructure in Northern Ireland and will create new linked datasets within the UK.

It will address a significant research gap among all patients with respiratory disease and aims to explore whether there are disparities in who is referred to asthma specialists.

This is important as these doctors can prescribe biologic therapies, which have been shown to be highly effective in reducing asthma symptoms and flare-ups.

The benefits of these biologic therapies in reducing corticosteroid medication side-effects will be investigated, helping answer the question of whether patients with poorly controlled asthma should be offered biologic therapy at an earlier stage in their treatment pathway.

After exploring these issues in Northern Ireland the project will replicate the analysis in England.

Student benefits

The student will gain experience in a variety of methodologies including conducting systematic reviews and performing statistical analysis.

The successful candidate will work in a highly interdisciplinary environment as part of a vibrant cohort of HDR UK-funded PhD students, with outstanding networking opportunities across the four nations of the UK.

Applications are invited by 30 June.

Entry Requirements

You must hold or expect to get an upper second class honours degree from a university in the UK or Ireland, or equivalent. Candidates with a doctoral degree, or who have registered on a PhD for one year (or part-time equivalent), are not eligible.

Essential attributes

• A strong quantitative background
• Good written and oral communication
• Evidence of relevant independent research skills
• Strong motivation
• Good time management
• Ability to work independently as part of a distributed team

Desirable attributes 

• Programming experience in Stata / R / Python etc.
• Previous research experience with healthcare datasets or electronic health records.